Rotary engine.



No. 677,088. Patented June 25, 190i.

T; M. KENNEY.

ROTARY ENGINE.

(Application filed Aug. 27, 1900.) (No Model.) '2 Sheets-Sheet L IIZ'ZIZ6.5506. In 1 6711777 m: wnms PETERS ca. Puc'rau'mu. wAsnmm'uN, D. c

UNTTED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

THOMAS M. KENNEY, OF CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF TWO- THIRDSTO HENRY OOVAN AND ELIAS A. COWAN, OF BOSTON, MASSA- CHUSETTS.

ROTARY ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 677,088, dated June 25,1901.

Application filed August 27,1900, Serial No. 28,089. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS M. KENNEY, a citizen of the United States,residing in Cambridge, county of Middlescx, and State of Massachusetts,have invented an Improvement in Rotary Engines or Motors, of which thefollowing description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, isa specification, like characters on the drawings representing likeparts.

This invention relates to a rotary engine or motor of a novelconstruction, as will be described.

The engine or motor referred to may be actuated by steam, hot air, gas,water, or other suitable medium or agent; but to facilitate descriptionit will be hereinafter referred to as a steainengine.

The engine or motor may be simple or compound, and in the presentinstance I have chosen to illustrate it as a single engine or motor.

In accordance with this invention the engine comprises, essentially, acylinder or casing provided within it with a hollow hub of substantiallythe length of the cylinder and through which the shaft of the engine isextended. The hollow hub referred to forms, with the cylinder or casing,an annular chamber or passage, into which is projected or extended anarm or piston connected to the shaft, as will be described, and adaptedto travel or move in the circular passage about the said hub. Thecircular passage or chamber constitutes the cylinder proper of therotary engine and is provided with suitable steam inlet and exhaustports, as will be described, and the said chamber is provided with amovable abutment which cooperates with the said revoluble piston andwhich is movable into and out of the said circular path in which thesaid piston revolves, as will be described.

The engine may and preferably will be pro vided with a cut-off valve, aswill be described.

These and other features of this invention will be pointed out in theclaims at the end of this specification.

Figure 1 is afront elevation of a rotary engine or motorembodying thisinvention; Fig.

2, a vertical longitudinal section of the engine shown in Fig. 1; Fig.3, a transverse section on the line 3 3, Fig. 2, looking toward theleft; Fig. 4, a transverse section on the line 4 4, Fig. 2, lookingtoward the left; Fig. 5, a transverse sect-ion on the line 5 5, Fig. 2,looking toward the right; and Fig. 6, a horizontal longitudinal sectionon the line 6 6, Fig. 1, looking up.

The rotary engine herein shown as embodying this invention comprises acylindrical casing a, provided with the heads a a firmly secured to thesaid casing, as by screws or bolts a a The cylindrical casing a containswithin it a hollow hub Q of substantially the length of the cylinder andsecured to or forming part of one of the cylinder-heads, it being shownin the present instance as integral withthe head a The hollow hub a iscylindrical in shape, as herein shown, and forms, with the cylinder a, acircular passage or chamber of, in which moves an arm or piston a (seeFigs. 4 and 6,) secured to or forming part of a disk a keyed orotherwise rendered fast on a shaft a extended through'the hub a and theheads a a as herein shown.

The piston or arm a is designed to be moved in the circular passage orchamber about the hub a and the said piston at its end opposite to thedisk a may and preferably will have secured to or forming part of it aring abutment normally removed from the path of revolution or travel ofthe piston (L -that is, the movable abutmentis normallyremoved from thecircular passage a. The movable abutment may and preferably will be madeas herein shown and consists of a movable segment of thehub a (see Fig.4,) preferably made separate therefrom and composed of a curved arm band a rounded enlargement or knuckle b, which latter is adapted to turnin a substantially semicircular socket, channel, or groove bflextendedsubstantially the length of the hub d the said hub also having its outercircumference chamfered off or shaped to a depth sufficient to permitthe outer sur face of the arm I) to form a continuation or part of theouter circumference of the hub a when the said arm is in its normalposition. (Shown by full lines, Fig. 4.) The knuckle b is pivoted at itsopposite ends, which may be effected by providing one end of the knucklewith a suitable hole to enable that end of thehnuckletofitoverastudorpin projectingfrom the head (6 and not hereinshown, the other end of the said knucklehavinga suitable hole for thereception of a pivot-pin I), attached to an arm 6 fastened to the end ofthe hub a which may be effected by providing the arm I) with a secondpin or stud 11 which is driven into a suitable hole in the end of thehub By reference to Fig. 4 it will be seen that the segmental abutmentnormally completes the circumference of thehub (t5; but in order torevolveithe piston Ct tll6 said segmental abutment. is moved so astoextend across the circular passage to, which may be accomplished,ashereinshown, by means of the steam admitted into the circular passagea through an inlet-passage b made in the hub a and extended from the endlongitudinally toward theeenter of the said hub, where the said passagecommunicates with a passage Z9 extended to the outer surface of the hub60' below the arm of the movable abutment. The steam-passage b isdesigned to be connected with a steam-inlet pipe Z9 by a port or passageb in the dishe (see Figs. 2 and 3,) and a passage 19 in the head a,which latter passage is herein shown as angular in form and as extendedto the periphery of thehead a, where it=communicates with thesteam'inlet pipe I). Thesteam-port or passage 11 in the disk a may andpreferably will be made in the form of a segmental slot (see Fig. 3)extended through, the disk, and forming. part of a circular grooveb inthe outer face of the disk, the said-groove receiving withinit asegmentaLring Z1 constitutinga cutoff valve, which isvadjnstablysecuredwithin said groove, as

by, set-screws 11 b extended through slots hi I), countersunk in thesaid segmental ring and-into suitable threaded sockets in the disk (SeeFig. 2.) By moving thering in its a groove so as to project beyond oneendof the sloth the length of the steam port or passagein the disk maybe varied, and thereby the length of time in one revolution-of theableabutment is thus. acted upon by the steam as soonas the piston or armain itsv traveler revolution in the direction indicated by the arrow 20,Fig. 4, passes off from or out emcee ton referred tocontinues to beacted upon by live steam until the valve-disk a in its rotation carriesthe port or slot 1) past the mouth of the passage b and closes the sameby a solid portion of the said disk, thereby cutting off the admissionof the high-pressure or nonexpanded steam into the chamber 2, andthereafter the piston a is carried around about the hub a by theexpansion of the steam, which continues to expand until the exhaust-port0, leading fromthe-chamber a, isuncovered by the piston a and whenthepis ton passes by the exhaust-port c sufficiently to connect thechamber2 with the er'zhaustpipe csteam-pressure upon the abutment iswithdrawn and the latter is returned to its full-line position bygravity, assisted, it may be, by the piston (t which is carried over theabutment in its closed ornormal position, as herein shown, by momentum.piston a 'is represented by fulhlines as over the arm I) of themovableabutment, and-the entire circular passage (t is in. communica tion withthe exhaust-pipe a, so that the piston is balanced and the momentum issufficient to carry the said piston over and oft from the movableabutment and permit the.

latter to be moved'by the pressure of-the live steam into the positionindicated by-dotted- When the piston a 'is being driven'or lines. forcedaround the hub (t by. thelive steam in the chamber 2, formed'by thepiston c and its abutmennthesaid-piston isnnbalanced, as the portion ofthe, circular passagect in front of the piston a- -is in communicationwith the exhaust portc, but any torsional strain or effect due to theunbalancingoofthe steam-pressure on the piston a is wholly or largelycounteracted by the solid, bearing at forded the piston a by thestationary hub (L5.

The movable parts'of the engine or. motor may be provided withsuitablepacking in order to obtain steam-tight joints, and in the presentinstance the piston a is representedas provided with strips (Z ofpacking material inserted into longitudinal slots in theupper and lowerfacesof the said piston; but the said piston may bepacked in any othersuitable or desired manner-as, for instance,

the packing-strips may be secured tothe;

In Fig. ithe.

the head a, with the beveled faces of the said split rings in contactwith each other, as shown in Fig. 0, the said recess being made at theouter circumference of the disk a so that one of the split rings, as (1may make contact with the inner circumference of the cylinder at.

In order to automatically take up wear of the packing-rings cl (7, thering d may be engaged by a ring (Z fitted in an annular groove in theinner face of the head a and pressed against the packing-ring d bysuitable springs d set in suitable holes or sockets (Z in the head a, asrepresented in Fig. 6, and the ring d may be held from turning by meansof studs or pins d on it, (see Fig. 5,) extended into suitable holes inthe head a.

The ring (0 attached to the piston a at its end opposite to the diskvalve a maybe packed in a similar manner by split beveled rings (Z d anda spring-pressed ring (Z acted upon by springs (Z in sockets (Z in thehead (6 the ring (Z being prevented from moving with the piston by pinsor studs. (Not shown, but similar to the pins or studs 61 If desired,the movable abutment may also be provided with suitable packing.

I have shown myinvention as embodied in a single-acting engine; but itmay also be embodied in a compound engine by connecting the exhaust-pipec with the inlet-pipe of a duplicate engine arranged on the shaft a",with the cylinder to set so that its inlet-port Z1 may be quartering orat any other desired angle with relation to the inlet-port b The rotaryengine herein shown may be made reversible, if desired, by a properarrangement of additional steam inlet and exhaust ports.

By reference to Fig. 4: it will be seen that when the arm I) of themovable abutment is thrown outward by the live steam the said arm iscushioned by the exhaust-steam in the chamber a, and on the returnmovement of the said abutment it is again cushioned by the steam in thechamber a thereby rendering the operation of the abutment noiseless.

I claim- 1. In a rotary engine, a stationary cylinder, a hollowstationary hub located therein and of substantially the length of thecylinder to form a circular passage or chamber between said hub andcylinder and extended entirely around said hub, a shaft revoluble insaid hub, a piston or arm inserted into the circular passage and movabletherein about the stationary hub, means to connect the said piston withthe said shaft, a steam-actuated pivoted abutment normallyremoved fromthe path of the said piston, but adapted to be projected into the pathof movement of the said piston by the steam and form a live-steam spacewith said piston, and suitable steam inlet and exhaust ports,substantially as described. I

2. In a rotary engine or motor, a stationary cylinder, a hollowstationary hub located therein to form therewith a circular passage orchamber extended entirely around said hub, a shaft revoluble in saidhub, a piston or arm movable in said circular passage about the saidhub, a disk fast on said shaft and to which the said piston is attached,a steamactuated movable abutment normally withdrawn from the circularpassage but adapted to be projected by the steam into said passage toform an abutment cooperating with the said piston, an exhaust-port forthe circular passage, and a steam-inlet port for said circular passagecontrolled by the said disk, substantially as described.

3. In a rotary engine or motor, a cylinder, a stationary hub locatedtherein and forming therewith a circular passage or chamber, asteam-actuated movable abutment normally forming part of the saidstationary hub, a steam-inlet port in said hub having itsdischarge-mouth below said movable abutment, and a piston movable bodilyabout the said hub over the said movable abutment and cooperating withsaid abutment to form a closed steam-space, substantially as and for thepurpose specified.

4. In a rotary engine or motor, a stationary cylinder, a stationaryhublocated therein and forming therewith a circular passage orcham berextending entirely around said hub, a piston or arm movable bodily insaid circular passage about the said stationary hub, a shaft revolubleinsaid stationary hub,means to connect the said piston with the saidshaft, an inlet and an exhaust port for the circular passage, and asteam-actuated pivoted abutment normally removed from the circularpassage and adapted to be projected across the same after the saidpiston has passed by the said abutment, and to be withdrawn from thesaid passage in front of the piston, substantially as described.-

5. In a rotary engine or motor, a cylinder provided with heads a a ahollow hub attached to one of said heads and extended into the cylinderto near the other head to form a circular passage or chamber, a shaftextended through said hub and heads, a disk fast on said shaft betweenthe end of the said hub and the head a of thecylinder, a piston attachedto said disk and extended into the cir-' cular passage toward theopposite head of the cylinder, a movable abutment normally forming asegment of the said hub and pivotally secured thereto, a steam port orpassage in said hub extended from its end toward its center and openingunder the segmental abutment, a steam-inlet port in the head a, a portor opening in the disk adapted to connect the steam-inlet in the head awith the steam-pas sage in the hub, and an exhaust-port for the circularpassage, substantially as described.

6. In a rotary engine or motor, a cylinder provided with heads a a ahollow hub attached to one of said heads and extended into the cylinderto near the other head to form a circular passage or chamber, a shaftextended through said hub and heads, a disk fast on said shaft betweenthe end of the said hub and the head a of the cylinder, a pistonattached to said disk and extended into the circular passage toward theopposite head of the cylinder, a movable abutment normally forming asegment of the said hub and pivotally secured thereto, a steam port orpassage in said hub extended from its end toward its center and openingunder the segmen tal abutment, a steam-inlet port in the head a, a portor opening in the disk adapted to connect the steam-inlet in the head awith the steam-passage in the hub, means to regulate the size of theport or opening in the said disk, and an exhaust-port for the circularpassage, substantially as described.

7. In a rotary engine or motor, a cylinder provided with heads a a ahollow hub attached to one of said heads and extended into the cylinderto near the other head to form a circular passage or chamber, a shaftextended through said hub and heads, a disk fast on said shaft betweenthe end of the said hub and the head a, of the cylinder, a pistonattached to said disk and extended into the circular passage toward theopposite head of the cylinder, a ring a attached to the end of thepiston opposite to the said disk, packingrings carried by said disk andthe ring at a movable abutment normally forming a segment of the saidhub and pivotally secured thereto, a steam port or passage in said hubextended from its end toward its center and opening under the segmentalabutment, a steam-inlet port in the head a, a port or opening in thedisk adapted to connect the steaminlet in the head a with thesteam-passage in the hub, and an exhaust-port for the circular passage,substantially as described.

8. In a rotary engine or motor, a cylinder provided with heads a, (0 ahollow hub attached to one of said heads and extended into the cylinderto near the other head to form a circular passage or chamber, a shaftextended through said hub and heads, a disk fast on said shaft betweenthe end of the said hub and the head a of the cylinder, a pistonattached to said disk and extended into the circular passage toward theopposite head of the cylinder, a ring a attached to the end of thepiston opposite to the said disk, split and beveled packing-ringscarried by said disk and the ring a means carried by the heads a a toact on the said packing-rings to take up the wear of the same, a movableabutment normally forming a segment of the said hub and pivotallysecured thereto, a steam port or passage in said hub extended from itsend toward its center and opening under the segmental abutment, asteam-inlet port in the head Ct, a port or opening in the disk adaptedto connect the steam-inlet in the head a, with the steam-passage inthehub, and an exhaustport for the circular passage, substantially asdescribed.

9. In a rotary engine, the combination with a casing, of a hub extendedinto said casing and provided with a movableabutment normally forming asegment of said hub and pivoted to it to be moved away from said hub andinto engagement with the wall of the easing, said hub having asubstantially radial passage in it opening under said abutment, and alongitudinally-extended passage communicating with said radial passageand extended to the end of the said hub, and asteaminlet in the casingadapted to communicate with the end of said longitudinally-extendedpassage, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

THOMAS M. KENNEY.

Vitnesses:

JAs. H. CHURCHILL, J. MURPHY.

